


Rising Bubbles

by Not_Victoria83



Category: Shingeki no Kyojin | Attack on Titan
Genre: M/M, all characters are aged up to at least 20, female hange, one arm Erwin, scuba au, slightly educational
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-08-05
Updated: 2017-08-06
Packaged: 2018-12-11 15:51:07
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 6,528
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11717559
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Not_Victoria83/pseuds/Not_Victoria83
Summary: “Jean I really hope you’re a fast runner.” Eren yawned out minutes from falling asleep.Jean yawned back. “Funny. I wasn’t hoping the same for you. I hope that short bastard catches you and kicks your naked ass.”Luckily Eren had fallen asleep before he heard Jean’s remark. Soon the cabin was a chorus of snores.That night Eren dreamed of sitting at the bottom of the pool, watching the bubbles rise from his lips.---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Rating will potentially go up and more tags will be added/edited as the work progresses.





	1. Greetings from the Caribbean

**Author's Note:**

> First fic. Going with the flow. As stated in the summary, the rating might go up for later chapters and more relationships/tags will be added or edited as the story moves forward. Information in regards to scuba diving, coral reef systems, certain plants etc. are the result of internet searches and personal experience. The goal is to educate as well as entertain. :) Questions, comments and constructive feedback are welcome.

Despite his current location being a small Caribbean island with a name he couldn’t recall, the weather was surprisingly not sweltering. This, however, could have something to do with the fact that it was six o’clock in the morning. The waves were lapping lightly at the legs of the dock with a slight sea breeze swirling past just enough to tussle his hair and the hair of the two other students seated with their legs dangling over the edge. 

“Eren, we’re here. We’re finally seeing the ocean.” The blond student uttered. Eren glanced over at his life-long friend. There was a mixture of excitement and disbelief etched into the features of the blond male’s face. 

“I know Armin. I can hardly believe it too.” Eren responded with a yawn he failed to stifle. “I just wish it wasn’t so god damn early.”

The flight over had certainly been the opposite of pleasant. Between several delays, minimal leg room and screaming children, Eren was exhausted by the time the plane touched down. It was about one in the morning when everyone had gotten settled into their accommodations. Naturally, Eren spent an extra hour and a half tossing and turning before he started to fall asleep. The 5am wake-up call didn’t really help the whole situation either. 

Regardless, here they were, waiting on a dock across a street that had seen better days from a dilapidated looking building with the words “Scouts Scuba” painted on a sign that was definitely just a large piece of driftwood in its past life. 

The rest of the students were waiting nearby in their own small groups. Everyone else sitting in an agreeable silence save for two usually chatty students. Eren scoffed to himself.   
This caught the attention of the girl sitting on the other side of Eren. Before the girl could open her mouth to speak another voice was calling out to the trio. 

“Eren, Mikasa, Armin! Time to go inside!”

The way too cheery voice of their study abroad leader who also happened to be the marine biology professor at their university was assaulting their ear drums at a rate that Eren couldn’t possibly tolerate at six in the god damn morning. 

Noticing this, Armin called back, “We’re coming Professor Hange!”

Minutes later the collective of students were inside the small, dingy shack with the driftwood sign and to their surprise, it was much nicer than they previously anticipated. 

“Hmm. Guess you can’t judge a book by its cover.” Mumbled one of the females in the group as she took in her surroundings. She was kind of tall and had dark brown hair but at this moment, Eren couldn’t remember her name. 

“Shh Ymir!” a short blonde elbowed her friend and glanced in the professor’s direction. Light chatter surfaced throughout the room while Professor Hange stood off in a corner speaking with a tall blond man. 

In all there were twelve students that came on this summer semester study abroad course. Eren was lucky enough to be granted a spot last minute after the University’s surf club trip to Hawaii got cancelled and since sister and best friend we’re already going he figured, ‘why not’. Anything to keep him from spending another summer back home, bored out of his mind. He was a little bummed when he heard that the surfing wasn’t all that great around the island but he figured he’d find something else to do. 

“Hey Ar, why are we inside a scuba shop?” Eren asked rubbing the sleep out of his eyes.

Unfortunately it wasn’t Armin who responded first. “Seriously, Jaegar?! We’re getting certified, dipshit.” A guy with two-toned hair called out. 

“Oh that’s going to be a little bit difficult for you Jean. Since you know, horses can’t swim.” Eren quipped. 

“Actually Eren, horses can swim.” Armin stated quietly. 

“Did you even read the fucking syllabus?” Jean retorted. “Oh wait, I forgot, it took you three semesters to pass your—“

“Fuck off, horseface!” The glare Jean gave Eren after that remark was so sharp it could cut glass. 

The two students were mere seconds from fighting when Hange signaled the students to listen up with a loud whistle. Hands immediately went to cover ears but this didn’t stop Hange. 

“Okay, everyone. I’d like you to meet the owner of this scuba shop and my friend, Erwin Smith. He will be leading you through your scuba certifications, check out dives and will serve as one of our dive masters for the duration of our time here. On that note, I have some other business to attend to, so I will see all of you at four o’clock.” Hange was out the door before anyone could ask questions or protest.

An odd silence fell over the room as the group of students faced their dive instructor. Erwin had strong features and quite frankly, his eyebrow game was on point. He towered over most of the students save for one. 

“What happened to your arm?!” blurted out a short male with an equally short buzz cut. A few gasps came from some of the other students while others shifted uncomfortably. 

“Connie!” the chatty girl from earlier smacked the arm of her chatty friend.

“What? We were all thinking it.” Connie responded. 

More awkward silence fell over the group as they nervously glanced at the stone-faced expression of the armless man. 

With a hearty chuckle Erwin finally broke the tension. “It’s alright. I lost it in combat. Any more questions before we begin?”

No one raised a hand. 

“Good. Today is going to be a classroom day. I’ll go over the basics of scuba and get you all fitted with equipment. Tomorrow we’ll hit the pool and do a swim test and then break up into smaller groups for practicing the skills. If you all would follow me this way, we’re going to get started.” 

Erwin led the group through a small doorway in the back and they were in a small room that had been converted into a classroom. There were four wooden tables and a collection of different kinds of chairs at each. Once everyone was seated in groups of three Erwin gave each student a book. 

“These will serve as our classroom books and as your very first dive logs. Now, turn to page three. Can I get a volunteer to start us off?” 

Armin raised his hand and promptly started reading aloud. It didn’t take long for Eren to zone out and start daydreaming about surfing. It sucked that the trip was cancelled. He had been looking forward to it since the beginning of the school year. He had always wanted to learn to surf and this was finally his chance. Growing up in a landlocked state didn’t really provide many opportunities for him in this category.

“Eren!” Mikasa nudged her brother’s side. Eren was jolted awake from his daydream to find the entire classroom and Erwin Smith staring at them.

“Would you read the next paragraph Eren?” Erwin asked. Slightly flustered, Eren nodded and began to read aloud. He occasionally pronounced a word wrong only to be quietly corrected by Armin and fortunately for him, it was over soon enough. Erwin seemed to pick up on the brunet’s distaste for reading and refrained from calling on him for the rest of the lesson. 

Eren was shaken from his daydreams once again when the sounds of chairs scraping tile filled the room. It was time for everyone to get fitted with their rental gear. 

One by one Erwin handed the group wet suits and BCD’s to try on. The students took turns behind the changing curtains struggling into their wet suits and helping each other adjust their BCD’s in the way that Erwin demonstrated. Eren stepped behind the curtain to try on his wetsuit and minutes later stepped back out. 

“That suit is a little loose. Let me see if I have another in the back.” Erwin said as he left the room. 

“These wetsuits sure don’t leave much to the imagination.” Connie chimed in. 

Ymir smirked as she was eyeing the girl that shushed her earlier up and down. “You can say that again.” 

“Is it supposed to feel like I’m being suffocated?!” The chatty girl asked.

“Duh Sasha. That’s how you know it fits right. Weren’t you listening at all?” Connie retorted. Sasha tugged on her suit a little in discomfort. 

“I think mine might be a little short…” The tallest of the group mumbled. Everyone stopped and stared at him. This was the first time today that they heard him speak. 

“Mine doesn’t fit right either. I can’t get it to zip up all the way.” A guy with a stocky build exclaimed. 

It was Jean that spoke up first. “So let’s get this straight. Bertholdt is too tall, Reiner is too buff and Eren too puny.”

“Shut up horseface!” Eren shouted.

“Stop fucking calling me that!” Jean was about to take a swing at Eren when a freckled guy stepped in between them. 

“Jean stop instigating things.” To this Jean gave the freckled guy a slightly guilty look and backed-down. 

“Yeah Jean!” Eren sneered. Mikasa grabbed Eren’s ear causing him to yelp. “Mikasa! Stop treating me like a child.”

“Maybe she wouldn’t treat you like one if you didn’t act like it.” Came a voice from the back. A small blonde girl with frown and intense stare. 

“Oi, Annie—“ Reiner began but was cut off by Erwin re-entering the room. 

“So it seems that we currently do not have a wetsuit a size smaller at the moment. I’ll put in a special order tonight and it should be here in a few days. Is anyone else having any trouble with their wetsuits?”

Reiner and Bertholdt raised their hands and went over to explain their own sizing issues to the Dive master. 

Eren was really fucking tired at this point and was ready to go back to the Inn they were staying at when Hange entered the shop in a hurry.

“Erwin we have a bit of a problem. Can I speak to you for a minute?”

Erwin finished scribbling down the size requests and pulled Hange aside.

“What is it, Hange?”

“It was just discovered this morning that the Inn we booked is infested with termites. To top it off, the hallway on the first floor where our rooms were is completely flooded. It’s closed down for at least a month until renovations take place and the termites are gone.” Hange explained with a worn look on her face. “I was able to get our money back and the student’s luggage has been removed from their rooms. Thankfully, they didn’t have enough time to unpack last night. But now we are without a place to stay.”

Thick eyebrows knitted together in concentration. After several moments Erwin finally spoke, “Well, we have those old cabins in the back. They are a bit dusty. Could use a good cleaning and they have working facilities. If your students are up for it, you could all stay here.”

Hange clapped her hands together in delight. “That would be perfect!” Hange looked over to the students. Full-fledged conversations had broken out in the short time that she and Erwin had been talking. “Have they eaten lunch yet?”

“No. We we’re just about to do that.” Responded the male.

“Excellent. We can break the news after lunch.” 

“That works for me. They got through the first lesson surprisingly quick. I was just going to send them back early. I’m sure Levi has some extra cleaning supplies hidden around here somewhere.” Erwin began to scan the room.

“Then it’s settled. First lunch and then they clean!” Hange turned to face the students and let out a loud whistle. “Time for lunch!”

On that note, everyone dispersed. They dug up there brown paper bags that they made two days in advanced, knowing that they’d be crunched for time when they first arrived.   
Back outside, across the street and a little ways down the group sat collectively around some trees in a corner lot of grass. While the trees and the sea breeze helped a little, it was now real hot and real humid. Some people’s PB&J’s had gotten a little squished during their travels and when Eren opened his bag of chips he was greeted with a bag of crumbs instead. 

Throughout this morning’s lesson he was able to learn everyone’s names. Ymir was the tall, tan girl with dark hair and was lacking a verbal filter. Krista was the short blonde girl that she hit on frequently. Annie was the other short blonde who appeared to be the absolute opposite of Krista and seemed to always be frowning. Sasha was the chatty girl who was now devouring her lunch and sitting next Connie, the other talker. Marco was the freckled one who sadly happened to be friends with Jean. Bertholdt and Reiner were the other guys that had wetsuit troubles and appeared to be kind of quiet as well. 

Seemed like a decent enough group. Jean was really the only major pain in the ass. He could ignore Jean though. 

Armin had gotten up from his spot next to Eren and was talking animatedly to Marco about marine life. It’s not that Eren doesn’t like marine life. He’s heard Armin talk about it for years and can safely say that it is pretty fucking cool. He just doesn’t want an entire career in it. Well, he doesn’t think he wants a career in it. Truth be told, he has no idea what he wants to do for the rest of his life. He’s a sophomore in college and is still undecided. 

“Eren, what are you thinking about?” Mikasa prodded gently. 

Eren was silent. Often times he’d get swept up in his thoughts about after college and his sister somehow always annoyingly knew when he wasn’t really present. 

“Oh you know, the usual.” Eren crumpled up his paper bag and stood up. “We should probably be getting back.” Mikasa stood to follow. She didn’t ask any more questions and for that, Eren was grateful. He really didn’t want to have a conversation about his future again right now. He didn’t even want to think about it. 

The others started to wander back towards the scuba shop as well. Armin and Marco we’re still deep in conversation only now Jean, Krista, Ymir, Sasha and Connie were all invested too. 

Eren tuned in for a minute to hear Armin explaining why lionfish are harmful to the reef systems. 

“They are highly invasive because they have no known predators in this region and they reach sexual maturity after a year. From there they reproduce all year round.”

“Sounds like my kind of fish.” Ymir winked at Krista who was slowly turning the shade of a tomato. 

“Wow Ymir, way to be subtle.” Jean remarked. This earned Jean a side eye and a not so discrete middle finger from the former. 

“Why don’t the other fish eat them?” Sasha piped up.

Marco chimed in this time, “Their spines are extremely venomous to other fish. They also destroy the coral reefs by eating the majority of the other fish and sometimes crustaceans. This in turn lowers the population of the other reef fish that eat the algae and other plants that if left uneaten, can leave the coral reefs unbalanced.”

“Exactly.” Armin concluded with a focus that was unmatched by anyone other than Marco.

It was now Krista who spoke up, “Then what do we do? How do we stop them?”

“I’m glad you asked!” Armin said with a tinge of excitement. “There are lionfish hunting tournaments. You get a special container to put them in after you spear them in order to protect yourself from the spines.” 

“Isn’t that dangerous though?” Connie asked. 

“Well there is a potential for being stung but if you are wearing the proper gear and are cognizant of your surroundings, it can be avoided fairly easily. Of course, there is a protocol for stings as well.” Armin shared.

“Armin you didn’t even tell them the best part.” Jean pitched in. “You can eat them.”

“They’re really good too!” Marco smiled. 

The group of students broke into more excited chatter over the new found knowledge. Eren and Mikasa were very well educated on Armin’s personal vendetta against lionfish. So naturally, they already had all the facts. 

The students we’re back in the scuba shop and Hange was motioning for their attention. 

“So, change of plans. The Inn we we’re going to stay at? Completely flooded and filled with termites. But don’t worry I got all of our luggage out and our money back.”  
Nervous voices filled the room.

“Hey, hey focus. Erwin has so graciously allowed us to stay in the cabins on the property. They all have working facilities and we are nice and close to our outdoor classroom for the trip! But first, the cabins need a good scrubbing. Time to get to work.” After Hange’s announcement there were a few initial groans but everyone stepped up and grabbed some cleaning supplies and followed Erwin outside to see their new accommodations. 

There were two cabins. Like the scuba shop they appeared to be run down. Off to the side there were two other buildings. One was the restroom/showers and the other looked like it might be a community kitchen. Between the cabins and the facilities was a trodden path although the students couldn’t see what it lead to due to the overgrown flora.   
“The cabin on the left will be for the boys. The one on the right will belong to the ladies.” Erwin stated. 

Erwin went on about what needed to be cleaned in each cabin and suggested that the facilities could use some attention as well. While he was giving instructions a short man came into view on the dirt path.

“Oi, Erwin. Who are they?” he called out.

“LEVI!” Hange squealed and ran up to hug the man.

Pushing Hange off roughly, “Get off me, shitty glasses.” He proceeded to dust off his clothing as if he wasn’t already covered in a layer of dirt.

“It’s been so long!” Hange completely ignored Levi’s insult. Before Hange could press any further Erwin cleared his throat. 

“Everyone, this is my fellow dive master, Levi Ackerman. Levi, these are the students I was telling you about, remember?”

“Oh I remember. What are they doing here?” Levi questioned.

“Long story short, they can no longer stay in their previous accommodations so they will be staying here in these cabins.” Erwin explained.

Levi raised one eyebrow but the rest of his face remained stoic. “Tch. They better do a damn good job cleaning up those shit shacks.” And with that, he was headed back down the path from which he came with an overly excited Hange trailing at his heels.

“He can take a bit of getting used to but he’s excellent at his job.” Erwin continued to go over the last of the instructions and then let the students get to work.

At the end of the day, like the rest of the lot, Eren was absolutely exhausted. He was lying in his chosen bed in the boys’ cabin and was staring at the ceiling trying to remember the last time he was this tired. So much had happened today. For the most part scuba diving seemed easy enough. He wasn’t concerned about the swim test tomorrow. Eren didn’t like to toot his own horn, but he was in excellent shape. He went swimming at the University pool three times a week on top of playing soccer casually with friends, gym workouts, and Sunday afternoon yoga classes. He could definitely handle a couple of laps in the pool. Besides, swimming was kind of therapeutic for him. Whenever he would get super stressed out he’d just go do laps at the pool until he could barely muster the strength to pull himself out.

“Can you believe that Levi guy is one of our dive masters?!” Connie had been going on about the shorter dark-haired man from earlier for about fifteen minutes now. 

“Gee Connie, if you like him so much why don’t you marry him?” Reiner snorted.

“Haha. Very funny. But seriously, he looked so pissed for no reason at all.” Connie exclaimed.

“I’d hate to be in his group. He’ll probably try to drown us.” Jean remarked. 

Marco shrugged a little. “Maybe he’s just having a bad day. Erwin spoke really highly of him earlier.”

“Erwin’s probably eating his asshole.” The buzz cut chatterbox giggled a little at his own statement. 

“What Connie, you jealous?” Eren joined in. He wasn’t thrilled about that Levi guy either but this was pretty entertaining. 

“Nah Eren. I’m not jealous. You know what I don’t like though? Cleaning shit that I’ve already cleaned six times.” 

“Maybe you should have done it right the first time.” Jean quipped. 

Eren couldn’t help himself at this point. “Hmm. That’s funny Jean. I could’ve sworn you had to re-mop floors at least ten times.”

“Shut it Jaegar. That mop was shit and you know it.”

“Blaming the mop for a poor job sounds kind of silly, don’t ya think?” Eren was really going for it now. Something about antagonizing Jean was just too much fun to pass up.

“Oh yeah? Well at least I didn’t do such a shit job that I had the dust rag taken out of my hands.” This pissed Eren off a little. That rag literally was filthy when he received it. It wasn’t his fault that it was making things dirtier. 

“Ya know what Jean? I might be shit at cleaning but at least I know how to swim.” Eren said.

“Eren!” Armin chastised, giving Jean an apologetic look.

“Oh it’s fine Armin. I may not have been able to swim all too great before. But I’ll be swimming laps around Eren tomorrow.”

“You fuckin wish!” Eren laughed.

“Wanna bet?” Jean fired back. 

“Sorry I don’t make bets with the aquatically challenged.” Eren could see Jean getting pissed. 

“I want in.” It was Reiner who broke the tension. 

“Me too!” Connie said. 

“I think I’ll give it a go too.” Bertholdt spoke up. Everyone but Reiner stopped for a moment to acknowledge the usually quiet male. “What? I can always dig a little bit of healthy competition.”

“Hmm. Well I suppose if we’re making this a group effort, I’ll join the fun.” Eren said with an air of nonchalance. 

Jean looked over to the last two males who had yet to speak up. “Armin? Marco?”

“I’m going to pass on this one.” Armin said. 

“I think I will too.” Marco followed shortly after. 

“Fair enough.” The two-tone haired male replied.

“What are we betting?” Connie interjected. 

This was starting to get really interesting. Eren hadn’t participated in a good bet since the time he made Jean eat a live worm for losing to him in Mario kart on rainbow road while both of them were blindfolded. They had an unusual relationship to say the least. 

It took a good hour of hard thinking for anyone to come up with a good punishment for losing the bet. Someone suggested skinny dipping in the ocean after dark but that was quickly tossed to the side. It was too easy. Another person suggested covering the girls’ cabin in toilet paper but that was just wasteful and not that creative. 

Finally it was Reiner that came up with the punishment that everyone agreed on. The person who finished their swim test laps last would have to run down the dirt path butt naked in broad daylight until they figured out what was back there and brought some token back to prove it. No one had said they couldn’t go back there but it was somewhat implied. Regardless, this was what the guys decided on and by tomorrow afternoon, someone would be trying on their birthday suit.

“Jean I really hope you’re a fast runner.” Eren yawned out minutes from falling asleep.

Jean yawned back. “Funny. I wasn’t hoping the same for you. I hope that short bastard catches you and kicks your naked ass.” 

Luckily Eren had fallen asleep before he heard Jean’s remark. Soon the cabin was a chorus of snores. 

That night Eren dreamed of sitting at the bottom of the pool, watching the bubbles rise from his lips.


	2. Suns out, Buns out

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> In this chapter you will start to see a series of asterisks (***). When you see this, it denotes the passage of time and/or change of location. It will also be used to change the focal point of the narrative. Also, there's a fun little reference in this chapter to another movie. Let's see if you can find it!

Levi was out in the garden when it happened. He was plucking the Moringa trees when a flash of skin appeared in his peripherals. Hurriedly setting down his basket, he walked out of the garden to locate the blur. Sure enough, there was a naked man running across the field headed straight for the old shed. Levi snapped out of his thoughts and charged after the streaker. Within seconds he had him pinned, face down with his arm twisted behind his back. 

“What the hell do you think you’re doing?” he snapped.

The male underneath him was squirming. “Let me go!” He spat out.

Levi decided to humor the guy and allowed him to flip over. They were now face to face. The shorter male’s knee hovered over the naked one’s crotch applying light pressure to the hands that were acting as a shield, albeit a useless one. However most of Levi’s weight was distributed to keep his charge’s shoulders on the ground. “Move an inch and I will not hesitate to crush your balls.”

“Wouldn’t dream of it.” The pinned down male said with an eye roll.

Levi was so close to decking this guy in the face when he realized that this little shit was one of the students from his dive group earlier. It was bad enough that Hange had reached out to Erwin with her study abroad course and even worse when Erwin said yes, but now they had to live with these shit stains all summer. Levi was not thrilled to say the least. 

“Oi, you’re that fucker that got a leg cramp on the last lap of your swim test earlier. Erwin made me fish your scrawny ass out of the pool.” 

The student blushed all over. “Yeah well, it’s not like I planned that.”

The older male noticed the irritation is the younger’s voice. He also remembered a group of the other students snickering when he had cramped up. They were all mumbling something about being glad it wasn’t them and then it clicked.

“What are you doing out here?”

Without missing a beat the naked student sassed, “Oh, you know, just going for an afternoon stroll.”

The nerve of this kid! Levi shifted a little bit more pressure to his knee. 

“Aah!” the student squealed. 

Wait a minute…did Levi hear that right? Did this kid just squeal? Before he could comment on it, the student used all of his strength to push Levi to the side and was up and sprinting before the raven-haired man could blink. 

Did this really just happen? Levi shook his head and gazed over at the shed for a moment. At least the kid hadn’t made it to his destination. Things would have gotten real messy after that. Levi resolved to keep an eye on this rogue student and went back to collecting Moringa leaves for tonight’s dinner. Erwin insisted upon having a welcome feast for their summer guests. 

Try as Levi might, he couldn’t stop thinking about the naked male. What was his name again? He couldn’t remember. Hopefully if his suspicions were correct, the kid was just fulfilling some kind of dare and judging by their latest interaction, he probably wouldn’t have to worry about him coming back this way for a little while. Still, putting a padlock on the shed wouldn’t hurt. He’d rather be safe than sorry with all of these extra people wandering around. 

***

Eren’s heart was pounding out his chest. Not only had he come in dead last for the swim test earlier due to an unfortunate leg cramp, he also just got caught butt-ass naked by his steely-eyed dive instructor. He didn’t remember much from the encounter. All he could recall was one minute he was barreling towards what looked like a shed, hoping to find some sort of menial souvenir and the next he was face down in the dirt and wondering how he arrived at this milestone in his life.

Realizing he was still naked, Eren shook off the racing thoughts and slipped back into the boys’ cabin in search of a pair of pants at the very least. He didn’t make it very far before a room full of waiting eyes snapped in his direction. 

“Eren, my man. You’re back!” Reiner drawled. 

“What’d ya bring us?” Connie asked with a mocking smile. 

Covering his crotch, Eren ignored their inquiring taunts while he sought out some clothes. They could wait for him to at least secure his dignity. He found a pair of dark green joggers and slipped them on. He sighed and turned to address his audience. “There isn’t much back there. All I saw was a shed but I…” Eren stopped at the sudden memory that popped into his head. He definitely was not going to tell everyone about his earlier encounter. They’d never let him live it down. 

“You what? Bitched out?” Jean supplied. Eren would have been more pissed at Jean’s sass if he wasn’t still trying to cover his own ass. 

“I couldn’t get in. It had a lock on it.” That would do. Hopefully the others wouldn’t go searching for the shed and find out that he was lying. Still, Levi seemed pretty adamant about keeping him out. What could be in there? The curiosity that furrowed his brow did not go unnoticed.

“Eren? Is everything alright?” Armin asked. An almost undetectable flash of panic passed through Eren’s eyes. 

“Yeah…I just can’t believe I didn’t get caught.” Before anyone could press him any further, Eren went rummaging through his bag to find a top. He finally settled on a white v neck that fit a little loose. Fashion generally wasn’t one of Eren’s main concerns but he prided himself in looking halfway decent in his comfortable attire. 

Just then a low grumble was heard. 

“Damn. Somebody’s hungry.” Reiner elbowed his taller friend. Bertholdt’s cheeks blossomed a dusting of pink. 

Then there was another.

“Guys, I don’t think that was Bertholdt’s stomach…Did anyone check the forecast for today?” Marco said as he looked out the window at the darkening sky.

Armin checked his phone. Oddly enough, the scuba shop did have WiFi. However, it was incredibly slow.

“We should probably be getting over to the dining hall soon anyways. I thought I heard Erwin mention something about a welcome dinner.” Connie suggested.

“Ah, here it is! There is a 30% chance—“ A loud crack of thunder interrupted the blond followed by an immediate, torrential downpour. “…that it’s already raining.” Armin completed with a sigh.

“Well boys, it looks like we’ll be going for an evening jog.” Reiner mused.

A series of groans echoed throughout the cabin. Nobody wanted to get all wet. Most of them had already showered after their pool session from this morning. But it didn’t look like the rain was letting up anytime soon so the group braced themselves and ran out into the storm. They we’re running for less than a minute by the time they reached the dining hall. Soaked to the bone they entered quickly.

“Well, well. Look who finally made it.” Erwin announced in a lighthearted tone. The guys were the last ones to arrive. Heavenly smells drifted from the kitchen into the hall. Eren’s mouth was watering. What were they cooking? He’d never smelled anything like it. He didn’t even notice himself shivering until he heard an all too familiar voice call out.

“Oi, you shitty brats. You’re dripping everywhere. Clean it up!” Levi was now standing in the archway that led to where the delicious smells were coming from. He was wearing a plain white apron with ‘Kiss the Cook’ embroidered on the front in a teasing red scrawl. Eren almost laughed at the irony of the apron but the shorter man’s scowl put him in his place.

Erwin gave the group of young men and apologetic shrug and they took the hint. At least cleaning would distract them from how hungry they were. 

About twenty minutes passed and the last of the food had been brought out to the long wooden table. Twelve students, two dive masters and one eccentric professor all sat down. A rotation of dish passing immediately began and all idle chit chat died as everyone started chowing down. The food was amazing. Eren had never tasted anything like it. It tasted even better than it smelled which he didn’t think was possible. 

“Who made this?” Eren asked with a mouth full of food.

“Eww Eren. Chew with your mouth closed!” Mikasa chided. 

“It was Levi with the help of your female classmates.” Erwin commented as he dabbed a cloth napkin over his mouth. 

A chorus praises and gratitude was sung in between food being shoveled into waiting mouths. After his initial hunger was gone, Eren leaned back a little to get a better look at the remaining food that was on his plate. The meat was definitely a fish of some sort but he didn’t know what.

It tasted of buttery goodness and lime and it practically melted in his mouth. The salad had a kick to it. Some of the leaves were spicy while the others were sweet. There were a few other unfamiliar berries in it and a dressing that had to be homemade. The bread also looked like it was made on site and had a bunch of different seeds in it. 

Somewhere at the other end of the table a group was discussing the skills they covered in the pool lessons from earlier in the day and Armin was talking to Erwin about the local reef systems. 

Eren was beginning to doze off when he felt a swift kick underneath the table. He was greeted with a harsh glare from the man that pinned him to the ground earlier. Eren quickly averted his eyes. 

As dinner came to an end everyone pitched in to get the cleanup done faster. Eren was walking back to the main room to get more dirty dishes when a hand grabbed the back of his shirt and yanked him into a small side room that he hadn’t noticed before. 

Slightly discombobulated, the first thing Eren noticed was that it was very cold. He was still a little damp from his run through the rain earlier. Wrapping his arms around himself he took in his surroundings. Dimly lit, dead fish carcasses, a few other unmarked boxes. A freezer. Eren was inside of a walk in freezer. But how did he—

“Did you tell anyone about what you saw?” A tense voice cut through the low thrum of the freezer. 

This startled the student. He’d forgotten how he’d arrived in the place up until now. Eren spun around to confront his culprit. He was about to shout at the man when his throat got real thick. He was inches away from Levi’s face. So close, that he could feel the shorter male’s hot breath ghost over his collarbones. Eren shivered.

“I—I…” The words had escaped him. 

“Answer the question, Brat.” Cut through his thoughts.

“Well I would if you’d so kindly let me speak.” The brunet shot back.

This earned him a second kick to the shin. “Did you tell anyone about what you saw earlier?”

Eren’s teeth were clattering. “N-no. I d-d-don’t even know what you’re t-talking about.”

Levi stared him down. The brat could be lying but he wasn’t going to get a straight answer out of him right now. 

Eren was so cold he could hardly focus. “Can we p-please get out of here?”

With a single nod that wasn’t necessarily directed at the querent, Levi opened the door and gave the younger male a light shove. It didn’t take long for Eren to take the hint and he dashed around the corner vigorously rubbing his arms.

***

“Guys, we really should be getting back to the cabin. It’s really late and we’ve got an early pool session tomorrow.” Armin squeaked. 

“Ssh. We’ll head back in a minute. I gotta know if Jaegar was telling the truth the other day.” Jean responded. 

Connie nodded in agreement. 

All day long Jean and Connie had been speculating over Eren’s “findings” from his punishment the day before. Instead of paying attention in the classroom they hatched a plan to sneak out after everyone fell asleep and do some snooping of their own. Connie, who was not exactly familiar with the act of being discrete, knocked over and unidentifiable object in the dark and woke up the studious blond male in the process. Fast forward fifteen minutes later and the three males were creeping down the dirt path with bated breaths and eyes wide open. 

A twig snapped and the trio stiffened. 

“Connie!” came a hushed whisper from Jean. Connie looked down to see two pieces of a twig beneath his shoes.

“My bad.” He responded with a sheepish grin. The tension in the group melted and they continued down the path. 

“Over there!” Armin was pointing at a small rectangular block from across the clearing. They made their way through the grass and were standing in front of what had to be the shed Eren had referenced. Jean went to open up the shed but was thwarted by a padlock.

“Guess Jaeger was telling the truth.” Jean grumbled. After a defeated sigh and a few half-assed attempts to yank the lock off, the trio turned back around and made their way back to the cabin. 

***

“Hmm. It seems our guests are bit more curious than we thought.” Erwin mused as gazed out the window. He had seen the three students cross the field and fiddle with the lock. Levi hadn’t been exaggerating after all.

“Nosey little shits is more like it.” The shorter male stated as he absently picked at a hardened stain on the arm of his friend’s sofa. 

“Let’s introduce them to the garden after tomorrow’s pool session. It’ll give them something to do in their down time and it wouldn’t hurt to have the extra help.” Erwin looked over at his perturbed friend. “Levi, I know your concerned with their snooping but we’ve got this under control, okay? There’s no need for you to tear up my sofa.”

Levi stopped fiddling with the stain. “If you wouldn’t have spilled on it in the first place I wouldn’t have to tear it up.” Standing abruptly, the dark haired male made his exit. 

Erwin’s eyebrows knitted together as he examined the empty seat and the vacant doorway. He rubbed the back of his neck and let out a breath he hadn’t known he was holding. Tomorrow was going to be a long day.


End file.
